Cases Rest in Evidence Round of Aggravated Assault Trial, Judge Prepares Charge

The trial of 40-year-old Elias Bihl continued in the Tom Green County Courthouse Tuesday, picking up with a testimony from San Angelo Police Officer Richard Espinoza on what he witnessed at the crime scene and hospital on May 11, 2013. Bihl has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon due to the incidents that occurred that night. By 10:10 a.m., both the defense and the state had rested their cases. The court is in recess until 12:30 p.m.

Bihl, then 39, is alleged to have assaulted one of his former two roommates, Rigoberto Rivera, 22, first with a gun then with a knife. When officers responded to the scene, they found Rivera lying in a pool of his own blood on a neighbor’s porch. He was covered in blood, witnesses said, and was scared to the point that he was almost in tears.

Rivera is said to have been in such a state that he didn’t immediately recognize the wounds on his right arm, officers testified. Officers described the wounds as from a sharp object, or defensive stab wounds.  It wasn’t until he was in the hospital that he began to calm down, they said.

Bihl was transported to the hospital within a half hour of Rivera, Officer Espinoza said Tuesday. When Rivera learned of Bihl’s presence in the hospital, his anxiety level rose once again, he said.

“He was very scared,” Espinoza testified, “almost back to how he was on the porch. He asked if Mr. Bihl knew he was in the hospital and if he was going to be in the same room.”

Bihl, Espinoza said, remained combative both at the crime scene and in the hospital, and had to be restrained with a Ripp-Hobble after kneeing emergency room personnel in the face, he said.

Defense attorney Nathan Butler objected at this point in Espinoza’s testimony, stating that the information was extraneous, however Espinoza was permitted to continue his testimony as it pertained to the victim’s reaction and mental state at that time.

“He was spitting as well,” Espinoza continued. “I noticed another officer placing a towel over his face—not covering his nose so he could still breathe, but to keep him from spitting.”

As Espinoza spoke these last words, the defendant cocked his head to the side and wrinkled his face in apparent disagreement. Butler then took over questioning the state’s witness and asked him about an injury to Bihl’s right arm.

Espinoza said he could not remember the exact location of the injury, but described it as a small cut.

“So a cut that goes from here,” Butler turned and pointed to a spot on his arm just below the shoulder, “to here,” he reached back and pointed about six inches further down his arm, “you would consider a small cut?”

“Anything that takes less than five minutes to stitch I would consider a small cut,” Espinoza answered.

Butler questioned his certainty as to whether or not Bihl actually received stitches that night, and Officer Espinoza responded ‘yes”, however Butler never actually stated the role the question played in his argument.

At 10:03 a.m., the state rested its case. Defense attorney Nathan Butler then called Detective Matthew Vaughn back to the stand and had him verify photos of Bihl in the hospital, as well as photos of the front of the residence, inside of which is where the assault is alleged to have taken place, and a blood trail in front of the house. He also had Vaughn verify a photo of a cut on Bihl’s arm, which, Vaughn said, was indeed a cut, but due to only the shoulder being visible in the photo, said he could not verify with certainty that the arm belonged to Bihl.

The photos were published to the jury and Butler asked Vaughn about the cut and other injuries, which Vaughn described as “minor”. The cut, he said, was not would he would consider a big deal.

At 10:10 a.m., the defense rested its case and Judge Weatherby called for a recess until 12:30 p.m., when the jury will be read the charge.